Ten Beautiful Things

An emotionally resonant picture book.

The simple act of looking for beautiful things can help make life itself beautiful again ... Stunning illustrations and a quiet appreciation of the natural world combine to create a positive message about change.

Before dawn, Lily and her Gram, both white, drive out from a city to begin a life together on Gram's Iowa farm. Lily's in the backseat next to her purple backpack and a box marked "STUFF"; more belongings are strapped to the car roof. Readers aren't told why Lily is headed to live with her grandmother, but as she looks around with anxious eyes, Griffin (Rhoda's Rock Hunt) beautifully articulates her sense of displacement: "Gram's car tires hummed against the pavement. Lily felt the vibration in her hollow chest." Then Gram comes up with the game of finding 10 beautiful things along the way, and as their list grows--a rural sunrise, a wind farm churning under pink clouds, a thunderstorm breaking across the plains ("Cloud banks traded lightning back and forth, showing off")--LeChuga's (Seaside Stroll) digital drawings feel almost cinematic, alternating between dramatic vistas and intense moments of introspection and connection. When Gram tells Lily that the 10th beautiful thing is their love for one another, the girl realizes that while the changes in her life mean that "none of this was easy," she is where she belongs--and readers will know they've been fortunate to accompany her on this life-changing, emotionally expansive journey. Ages 5-8. (Jan.)

Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

♦ Ten Beautiful Things is a gentle, affecting story about a young girl coming to terms with leaving her home behind to move in with her Gram.
All Lily knows about where she will live with Gram is the X marked on an empty patch of land on her map. Gram, knowing change is hard, suggests the pair work together to find 10 beautiful things along the way to Iowa. Lily doubts they will find beauty, but when dawn breaks, she's awed by a magnificent sunrise—she's found number one! They drive on and, just as Lily feels the complaints starting in her belly again, Gram points to number two: spinning windmill blades that gleam in the morning sun. Lily quickly finds number three, a red-winged blackbird perched on a swaying stalk of last year's corn, and the two travelers continue their search for all 10 things, finding a falling-apart barn, the rich smell of mud and a swan-shaped cloud.
Molly Beth Griffin (Rhoda's Rock Hunt) never explains the reason Lily must make her home with Gram. Instead, she packs her eloquent text with sensory details that masterfully link Lily's inner and outer journeys. Likewise, Maribel Lechuga's deftly colored and textured mix-media illustrations feature grand vistas as well as intimate closeups of the grandmother and granddaughter, evoking the unfolding wonders of this difficult trip. Ten Beautiful Things is a deeply touching, ultimately uplifting story. By the end of the drive, readers will know without a doubt, just as Lily does, that she now belongs here, with Gram. —Lynn Becker, blogger and host of Book Talk, a monthly online discussion of children's books for SCBWI Discover: In this deeply touching story, Lily must move to Iowa to live with Gram, who suggests they find 10 beautiful things along the way.
—Shelf Awareness, starred review

♦ In this gorgeous story about claiming home where we are loved, Lily's grandma proposes a game to ease the pain of moving: they'll find ten beautiful sights to celebrate along the way. Though at first Lily's vision is obscured by grief, she is soon able to note: a brilliant sunrise. A cawing bird. The earthy smell of mud. Her heart opens as their ride reaches its end, resulting in triumph. Its attentive, bright illustrations help to make this a perfect picture book.
—Foreword Reviews, starred review